Jeorg haertel



G. HAERTEL.

ARTIFICIAL ARM AND HAND.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 10. 1916.

1,322, 108. Patented Nov. 18, 1919.

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yenonerrannrnt, or BERLIN, Gnmvmnr, 1

ARTIFICIAL ARMA D AND;

floallwhom it may concern 1 Be it known that LGnouo HAnn'rEL,residing at Berlin, Germany, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in and Relating to Artificial Arms andllands, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in artificial hands, the obj ect of the. invention being to provide means for moving the thumb of an artificial hand, and comprising a sleeve or sleeves secured to the stump of anamputated arm and carryingv a plate with inclined surfaces vwhich hasa rod arranged in its center whichais'journaled in the base of the artificial arm and serves to guide the sleeve and the stump of the forearm, while the inclined surfaces upon rotation of the stump act upon said endwise movable rod and the rod engages cams provided at the movable part of the artificial hand.

With the above and other objects in view,

the invention consists in the construction,

combination and arrangement of devices hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings a Figure 1 is an elevation showingthe general arrangement of the artificial hands, the parts of which are to be moved by the raising and lowering of the stump of the forearm. 1

Fig. 2 is a sectional view of said hand, on a larger scale. 7 I 1 In accordance with my invention, the artificial hand 1, is connected by means of pivotally arranged levers or bars 2 to sleeves 3 which are firmly clamped around the ends of the upper arm and forearm adjacent to the elbow, in such manner that the artificial hand 1 is not affected by the rotation of the stump 4: of the forearm. At the end of the stump 1 a sleeve 5 is fixed, said sleeve having a cross section corresponding to the stump 4 and having a plate 6 provided at its free end, said plate having two oppositely arranged inclined surfaces 7 and 8 which are parallel with each other and which cooperate respectively withrods 9 and 10,

which rods are movable lengthwise in openings in the base 20 of the artificial hand.

The ends of said rods areprovided with rollers 14L and 15, the rollers 14: bearing against the inclined surfaces 7 and 8, and the rollers 15 against the cam surfaces 11 and 12 of the movableparts of the artificial Specification of LettcrsPatent. V Patent d N ,18, 1919 Application filedMarch 10, 1916. Seria1-No,83,3.76. i

hand (innthe example-shown, the movable thumb 13) respectively. In. the center of theplate fi c arrying the inclined surfaces, a pin 16' is, fixed, which rotates in a bearing providedin the baseZO of the artificialhand and whichiis adaptedto; guide the plate as well asthe stump of thearin;

,Theoperation of thedevice is as follows: In the normal position of the stump of the arm, the movable part (thumb13) is iniits middle position. The rollers 14, 15 of the rods 9 and 10 always bear against the surfaces 7, 81 and. 11, 12 respectively. If the stump of the arm is rotated in a direction in which the hands of a watch travel, the

.rod 10 is moved forward and pressing against the surface 12 separates the thumb 18 from the fingers of the artificial hand,

- At the same time the rod .9 is moved backward by the inclined surface 11 and the roller 1 1 of said rod is freely sliding along. the inclined surface 7. If thestump of the. arm is rotated in a direction opposite to the direction of travel of the hands of a watch, the rod 9 is moved forward to close'the thumb 13 and finger 1 and simultaneously the rod 10 is moved backward by the surface 12 without doing-work.

- It may be noted that said device may also be used if the arm has been amputated above the elbow-joint, in which case the rotations of the stump of the upper arm may be used to move the parts. In such case the displacement of the rods arranged in the sleeve of theupper arm would'be transmitted to the hand by suitable means such as for instance Bowden-wires. Y m

If desired, he inclined surfaces 7, 8 may be resiliently connected to the plate 6, so as to obtain a gentle, pressing together of the single parts and to prevent the device from being damaged.

To increase the number of movements of the parts theabove mentioned device for utilizing the movements of the shoulder blade to move the parts of an artificial hand I by means of a cable wire or the like may of course be employed in combination with the last described device. g What I claim is: I r i I 1. In artificial limbs of the character described, in combination, a plate freely projecting into said limb, inclined surfaces at i one end of said plate, rods endwise mov able in the base of said limb adapted to be acted upon by said inclined surfaces and to engage the movable parts of the limb and means at the other ends of said rods for receiving the stump of the arm.

2. In a device of the character described for moving the fingers of artificial arms, in combination, oppositely inclined surfaces on a plate freely projecting into said artificial limbs and at one end of said plate, rods end- Wise movable in the base of said limb adapted to be acted upon by said inclined surfaces, cams upon the movable parts of said limbs, adapted to be engaged by said rods, and a sleeve at the other end of said plate surrounding the stump of the arm, said inclined surfaces at the plate upon rotation of the stump of the arm movin said rods for the purpose of moving the fingers and thumb of same.

3. In artificial limbs of the character de scribed, in combination, a sleeve surrounding the stump of an arm, a plate on said sleeve, oppositely inclined surfaces on said plate, a rod journaled in the base of the limb and adapted to be moved endWise and to be engaged by said inclined surfaces upon the rotation of the stump, and cams provided at the movable parts of the artificial limb adapted to be engaged by said rods.

4. In an artificial limb of the character described in combination, a sleeve surrounding the stump of the arm a plate carried by said sleeve provided with inclined, resilient surfaces, a rod journaled in the base of the artificial limb and secured in the center of said plate and adapted to guide the sleeve and the stump, said inclined surfaces upon the rotation of the stump acting upon said endwise movable rods and cams provided at the movable parts of the artificial limb adapted to be engaged by said rods.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

GEORG HAERTEL. 

